Experimental and statistical investigation of torque coefficient in optimized surface piercing propeller

The interaction of the blade of surface-piercing propellers (SPPs) with the water/air surface is a physical phenomenon that is difficult to model mathematically, so that such propellers are usually designed using empirical approaches. In this paper, a newly developed mechanism for measuring the torque of SPPs in an open water circuit is presented. The mechanism includes a single-component load cell and a deformable torque sensor to detect the forces exerted on the propeller. Deformations in the sensor elements lead to changes in the strain gauge resistance, which are converted into voltage using a Wheatstone bridge. The amplified signal is then recorded by a 16-channel data recording system. The mechanism is calibrated using a 6-DoF calibration system and a Box-Behnken design, achieving 99% accuracy through multivariate regression and ANOVA. Finally, the results of performance tests on a 4-blade propeller were presented in the form of changes in the torque coefficient as a function of feed rate. The results show that the new mechanism is 8% more accurate than conventional empirical methods.